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The purpose of this paper is to consider the impact of the drachma's replacement by the euro on the quality of accounting information published by Greek listed firms.

The authors examined how the adoption of the euro currency impacted on the timeliness of income recognition and the relevance of accounting information during the pre and post euro adoption periods using a sample of 176 listed firms over the period 1995‐2008.

Convincing evidence was found that the euro contributed to a decrease on the value relevance of accounting information, an increase in the conservatism of financial statements and finally a reduction in the earnings management behavior of managers.

By considering the impact of the common currency on the quality of accounting information, analysts are more able to provide accurate estimates on firms' future prospects, thus contributing to less information asymmetries among stock market participants.

The results could be proved useful to regulators since they indicate that financial accounting information prepared after the adoption of the euro currency has inferior value relevance. Therefore, if regulators want to develop an efficient financial market they need to address this effect by developing relative legislation that promotes the quality of accounting information.

The majority of studies on the issue of the euro have focused on matters of macroeconomic stability, corporate investments and valuation and market integration. No research until now has studied the impact of euro adoption on the quality of accounting information and how accounting quality is perceived by market participants during the pre and post‐euro adoption periods.

The aim of this paper is to enhance the understanding of the consumer attitudes and behaviour towards a new currency, euro, before the process of the changeover. The approach of the current study differs from most past research on the same topic as consumer attitudes are surveyed before the currency changeover, not retrospectively based on consumer recall. The research attempts to achieve the following set of objectives: to identify the general consumer attitudes towards euro and pinpoint sources of tension, resistance and uncertainty before the currency changeover process; to identify the pre‐adoption assessment of euro value scales and inflation expectations; and to identify various emotional factors related to the national and European identity in the euro adoption process.

The data analysis of the current research adopts a qualitative methodology. To gather a full insight into the pre‐changeover attitudes, opinions, fears and hopes, a total of 29 qualitative interviews were conducted.

The results suggest that consumer attitudes and opinions towards the changeover process are multifaceted and concerns and uncertainties rise from various sources – from rational economic aspects to emotional aspects related to national identity. This research points also to the underestimated role of national pride in the process of transfer from the national currency to euro.

The study is one of the first attempts to research consumers before a forthcoming changeover; thus it is exploratory in its nature and has the traditional limitations of an exploratory research. Based on the initial findings, it would be possible to design a quantitative research for the subsequent countries adopting euro.

The research identifies the attitudes of consumers before the changeover, outlining their doubts, fears and prejudices. The results can be used by subsequent countries adopting euro while planning their changeover strategies. The efforts of the strategy developers should be directed towards addressing the real challenges people face before the changeover.

A distinctive contribution of this study lies in the addressing of the pre‐changeover attitudes and opinions before the currency change took place. Although there have been surveys asking respondents to recall their pre‐changeover opinions, the accuracy of the respondents' memory over time has decreased, which is why such surveys may not give a valid picture. This paper contributes to the understanding of the pre‐adoption phase in a currency changeover process as seen from the point of view of consumers.

The Maastricht inflation criterion has influenced the choice of disinflation strategies of prospective euro area member countries. Some historically high‐inflation countries chose the fiat disinflation strategy of “low inflation now, reforms later,” bringing inflation down quickly. Their inflation rates increased immediately after their euro applications were assessed positively and stayed significantly higher than inflation in France and Germany, two historically low‐inflation countries. The inflation differentials reflect both structural rigidities inherited from the past and higher inflation expectations stemming from the chosen disinflation strategy. This paper seeks to address these issues.

The paper highlights the inflation consequences of the choice of compliance policies with the Maastricht inflation criterion. To this end, the paper estimates costs of future disinflations in six high‐inflation countries for which well‐established stylized facts are held.

The Maastricht inflation criterion has been an influential nominal rule. While it swayed the public stance toward low inflation, it biased the choice of the disinflation strategy toward fiat measures. Inflation in these countries declined only temporarily, giving these countries a pronounced V‐shaped pattern of inflation. These countries tended to opt for “low inflation now, reforms later” approach, which yielded low inflation quickly at the cost of postponing long‐term structural reforms. While the ERM II process can be made relatively painless by fiat measures, such a strategy results in inefficient transmission mechanisms and costly disinflations.

The paper highlights the long‐run inflation consequences of the choice of compliance policies with the Maastricht inflation criterion. While inflation was low prior to the euro and stayed low afterward in inflation‐averse countries, a V‐shaped inflation path in high‐inflation countries is seen. The countries that expect to benefit the most from a fast adoption of the euro are likely to opt for fiat‐driven compliance. The choice of compliance policies has consequences for future disinflations – monetary transmission distortions and inefficiencies of fiat policies increase the cost of future disinflations and will complicate ECB policymaking for years to come.

There have been many studies on the euro's impact on trade volume, foreign direct investment (FDI) and the integration of European financial markets. Previous research has tried to find empirical evidence for convergence of real estate securities markets. However, less attention has been paid to the euro's effect on FDI in the real estate industry. The purpose of this paper, therefore, is to analyze the euro's effect on FDI in the real estate industry between Germany and European partner countries.

It is hypothesised that the adoption of the euro will increase the volume of FDI flows in the real estate industry between Germany and European partner countries. To estimate the euro's effect on FDI in the real estate industry, a modified gravity equation is adopted. Pooled OLS and random effects models are utilised.

Results from panel data from 34 countries between 1986 and 2009 suggest that the euro contributed to the increase in the German bilateral FDI in the real estate industry to and from European partner countries. However, it is interesting that the euro's effects were only significant in FDI inflows under a random effects model.

The paper's findings provide original evidence for the positive impact of the euro on FDI in the real estate industry between Germany and European partner countries.

The purpose of this paper is to develop a matrix of socially responsible behaviour and communication types (corporate social responsibility (CSR)‐BC matrix) to explain different practices companies use when dealing with stakeholder issues, such as transparent changeover pricing.

The analysis takes theories and research on CSR, transparent pricing and consumer expectations, and a case study approach as its starting point. It explores a case study of adoption of the euro in Slovenia, the 13th member state that joined the European Monetary Union. It deals with the importance of expectations about the changeover process and the responsible behaviour and communications of companies.

According to the data, the cases of changeover can be explained with the CSR‐BC matrix. According to the results, it seems that the majority of companies did not abuse the changeover process. This indicates that consumer expectations and actions can be a meaningful sign for companies to adopt appropriate CSR behaviours and communication regarding the euro changeover.

The case study has some limitations regarding the data. For a more thorough exploratory research stronger data such as interviews within the companies would be beneficial.

The paper contributes to the CSR literature by explicitly linking pricing behaviour and CSR and by developing a CSR‐BC matrix that can be used in exploring corporate pricing behaviours or other behaviours and communication practices as well. With the case study illustration it also allows for a theoretical understanding that such behaviours are not made in a vacuum.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the determinants of profitability for a sample of Greek non‐financial firms listed in the Athens Stock Exchange for the period 1995‐2003. This is a very important period for the Greek economy on the way to European monetary union (EMU).

The methodologies employed include panel data estimation techniques. This research attempts to exploit the determinants of firm profitability of non‐financial Greek firms listed in Athens Exchange utilizing firm‐specific publicly available accounting variables using panel data estimation techniques rather than cross‐sectional analysis.

According to the findings, firm profitability was positively affected by size, sales growth and investment and negatively by leverage and current assets. Additionally, we found that the EMU participation and the adoption of the euro were negatively related to firm profitability.

Taking into account the fact that the Greek economy has undergone significant transformation during the period under examination on its way to join EMU and to adopt the euro currency, a model has been formulated where both firm‐specific and economy wide factors determine firm profitability.

This paper focuses on a less developed and efficient stock market. In contrast to previous studies that did not take into account the convergence of the Greek economy to EMU averages and the subsequent adoption of the euro, this paper analyses data for the pre‐EMU and the post‐EMU periods in an attempt to quantify a potential macroeconomic effect on firm‐specific profitability.

This paper aims to carry out a comprehensive analysis of the influence of interest rate risk on Spanish firms at the industry level.

The methodology employed has its origin in the two‐index linear regression model proposed by Stone. This traditional interest rate exposure model has been extended in this paper to allow for a nonlinear exposure component as well as the presence of asymmetric behaviour in the exposure pattern.

Interest rate exposure is not homogeneous for all the Spanish industries. In line with other markets, highly leveraged industries (construction and real estate), regulated industries (electrical and utilities), and banking industry are the most interest rate sensitive. Nevertheless, the interest rate exposure of Spanish firms also shows some distinctive features due to the peculiar structure of the Spanish market. It is also documented that the classical linear exposure profile prevails over the nonlinear and asymmetric exposure patterns, and that the introduction of the euro seems to have weakened the degree of interest rate risk.

The evidence presented in this paper can be used as input in decision making by corporate managers, investors, and regulators interested in assessing the impact of interest rate risk at the sector level for hedging, portfolio management, or risk assessment purposes.

This is the first paper which tackles the analysis of the impact of interest rate risk on Spanish firms, taking into account not only the standard linear interest rate exposure profile but also the nonlinear one. The results found in the Spanish case reveal the existence of particularities which might also be present in countries immersed in a process of dramatic economic transformations similar to that experienced by Spain over the past two decades. This is the case of the Central and Eastern European countries which recently joined the European Union.

In the euro’s initial years, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Portugal and Spain observed capital flow bonanzas and credit-booms, two cycles known to precede banking crises. Domestic banks fuelled those cycles via funding obtained from foreign financial institutions. Yet, these countries’ banking and financial crises have unfolded in different modes. In Ireland and Spain, credit-booms propelled real-estate bubbles, which dragged banks into crises, with governments’ accounts later being affected when rescuing banks (Spanish regional banks, and all Irish major banks). In Greece and Italy, extra monetary means perpetuated government imbalances (e.g. debt levels above 100% of GDP, large yearly deficits). More severely in Greece, banks were brought into crises by sovereign crises. In Portugal, a mixture of private and public sector–led crises have occurred. Our comparative study finds that these crises: (1) are connected to shocks and imbalances caused by dangerous banking sector cycles during the monetary integration process; (2) were not mere expansions of the US subprime crisis; (3) were not only caused by country-specific features and institutions; and (4) followed distinct paths, therefore, a uniform model encompassing all post-euro crises cannot exist.

Paper aims to investigate the interdependencies and spillover effects that the Visegrad (V4 hereafter) Equity Markets hold on each other. The V4 group stands for the political alliance of four Central European countries: Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia.

The study uses Wavelet coherence, dynamic conditional correlation GARCH (1, 1) and unrestricted vector autoregression (VAR) methodologies. Daily data series (covering the period from January 2, 2006, to February 2, 2023) are analyzed to assess coherence, time-varying conditional correlation and shock transmission among the V4 Equity Markets.

Wavelet analysis reveals that the Slovak equity market does not maintain coherence with three other equity markets. The time-varying conditional correlation documents for the high interdependence during the COVID-19 outbreak of the four indexes. The VAR estimates reveal that shocks in the Warsaw equity market are easily transmitted in Prague and Budapest exchanges but not in Bratislava. The results show that the Slovak equity market tends to be isolated from the influence of other three V4 exchanges. This isolation is attributed to its size, limited volume and adoption of the euro in 2009. The study emphasizes the Slovak financial system’s gravitation toward the Eurozone after euro adoption.

Notably, the findings provide important signals for local and international investors as the results cover four significant international shocks. The global meltdown of 2008/09, the Greek debt crisis of 2010/11, the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the pre-adoption phase of budgetary reform. Perspectives on the introduction and use of performance information in budgeting are obtained through interviews with current and former senior politicians and civil servants in Malta. Institutional theories are used to analyse the pressures that are perceived as promoting or inhibiting reforms.

The research followed a qualitative approach, using data gathered from documentary sources and empirical evidence collected from semi-structured interviews. Documentary sources were used to provide knowledge, obtaining an understanding of budgeting processes in the Maltese central government. Two categories of interviewee are identified in the analysis: political interviewees, consisting of 7 politicians; and administrative interviewees consisting of 13 senior civil servants.

The authors find that the current line-item budgeting system is deeply embedded into government practices. Malta’s membership of the European Union and its adoption of the Euro support coercive pressures for reductions in fiscal deficits. Normative pressures appear to be significant and may have a longer-term impact in promoting budgeting reform.

This paper contributes to existing performance-based budgeting literature by studying the pre-adoption phase which has rarely been the focus of previous studies. The study delves into the interaction between institutional and economic forces, an aspect which has been inadequately studied. The access to current and former Prime Ministers and other Ministers of State in this study is unusual. As such, the researchers have been able to obtain the perceptions of political decision makers in a way that might be more difficult to do in larger countries.